Post Tenebras Lux

Can the Godless Do Good? The Virtue of Our Non-Christian Neighbors

This paper discusses Jonathan Edwards' ideas on virtue. The main idea is that we can truly say that non-Christians can still be virtuous, though only through a partial view of true virtue. Edwards uses terms of general and particular beauty, referring to the scope of the beauty (or in this case, virtue): particular beauty is limited to a narrow scope, while general beauty is comprehensive. As an example, he mentions notes in a musical piece which may together sound harmonious, but in the context of the entire piece may sound discordant.

Non-Christian moral virtue is specific in this case, while proper Christian virtue is general. This is because true virtue always has the end purpose of glorifying God, which non-Christian virtue by definition can’t have.

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